TV series
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
Availability
Checked Jul 22, 2026
BBC Play of the Month premiered October 19, 1965. We don't have a confirmed streaming, rental or purchase option yet.
A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.
Episode 1
An Indian doctor meets a willful and arrogant heiress stuck in a dull marriage in order to satisfy the conditions of her father's will.
Directed by William SlaterWritten by George Bernard ShawGuest stars Maggie Smith, Peter Barkworth, James Villiers, Charles Gray, Priscilla Morgan, Tom Baker, Donald Pickering, John Gorrie
Episode 2
Hedda Gabler is a beautiful woman married to the solid and respectable academic George Tesman. Then an old flame, the dreamer Eilert Lovborg, turns up on the scene with tragic results.
Directed by Waris HusseinWritten by Michael MeyerGuest stars Janet Suzman, Ian McKellen, Tom Bell, Jane Asher, Dorothy Reynolds, Brendan Barry, Rachel Thomas
Episode 3
Resolving the riddle of the Sphinx makes Oedipus the king of Thebes, but he also resolves another mystery — and it destroys him.
Directed by Alan BridgesWritten by SophoclesGuest stars Ian Holm, Alan Webb, Anthony Bate, Sydney Tafler, George Coulouris, Sheila Allen
Episode 4
A widow weds a magistrate and makes her 19-year-old son act as a boy.
Directed by Bill HaysWritten by Arthur Wing PineroGuest stars Barrie Ingham, Michael Hordern, Leonard Rossiter, Candace Glendenning, Anna Calder-Marshall, Peter Firth, John Blythe, Alan Hockey
Episode 5
A self-proclaimed 'knight' and his hapless squire travel the Spanish countryside, attacking 'giants' that are really windmills in his attempt to win the love of the fair Dulcinea.
Directed by Alvin RakoffWritten by Hugh WhitemoreGuest stars Rex Harrison, Frank Finlay, Rosemary Leach, Robert Eddison, Roger Delgado, Bernard Hepton, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Michael Golden
Episode 6
Candide falls in love with the beautiful but materialistic Cunegonde. Her barron father doesn't approve of the affair so Candide wanders, meeting all the misfortunes along the way.
Directed by James MacTaggartWritten by James MacTaggartGuest stars Ian Ogilvy, Angela Richards, Frank Finlay, Emrys Jones, Clifton Jones, Kathleen Helme, Leonard Maguire, Nicholas Jones
Episode 7
When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?
Directed by Donald McWhinnieWritten by Pauline MacaulayGuest stars Judy Geeson, Tom Chadbon, Kate Coleridge, Charles Gray, John Sharp, Robert Coote, Lally Bowers, Brian Stirner
Episode 8
Grusha sacrifices her happiness and dignity for the sake of an abandoned child she takes as her own.
Directed by Bill HaysWritten by Margarete Steffin, Eric BentleyGuest stars Sara Kestelman, Leo McKern, Patrick Magee, Terrence Hardiman, Peter Jeffrey, Robert Powell, John Thaw, Edmund Pegge
Episode information updated Jul 24, 2026
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Available nowSimilar genres and era
Available nowSimilar genres and era
Available nowSimilar genres and era
Helen MirrenMargery Pinchwife
Anthony HopkinsAlfred Allmers
Eileen AtkinsOlga
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Geoffrey BayldonDyadin
Ronald HinesRonny Heaslop
Edward FoxLysander
Stephanie BidmeadLady Capulet
BBC OneUnited Kingdom
BBCUnited Kingdom